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Make It Stick: The Science of Successful Learning

Peter C. Brown,

Henry L. Roediger III,

Mark A. McDaniel

4.18 · Rating details · 12,063 ratings · 1,268 reviews

To most of us, learning something "the hard way" implies wasted time and effort. Good teaching, we believe, should be creatively tailored to the different learning styles of students and should use strategies that make learning easier. Make It Stick turns fashionable ideas like these on their head. Drawing on recent discoveries in cognitive psychology and other disciplines ...more

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Hardcover, 253 pages

Published April 14th 2014 by Belknap Press

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Jul 21, 2014 Jeremy rated it it was ok

If only I had known... So I'll let you in on the secret. EVERYTHING you need to know is contained in Chapter 8. The final chapter of the book, naturally. So skip to page 200 and save yourself a LOT of time wandering aimlessy through the groves of academe. Not that there isn't viable information in the preceding seven chapters, mind you, but it's a long slog of background before getting to the good stuff.

I suppose they had to do something to make it more than a pamphlet.

Trust me. Read Chapter 8 ...more

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Sep 16, 2017 Amir Tesla rated it really liked it

Shelves: education-and-creativity

Learning faster, and remembering more, is a lofty goal endeared by any ambitious individual. Unfortunately, our default way of learning is terribly ineffective.

Refer to Full summary of make it stick: science of successfull learning

Also how I use the techniques of this book to read faster and remember more

Perhaps this has happened to you as well, asking a person’s name just to forget it a minute later. What’s worse is that we think to ourselves, gosh, I have a very bad memory. Just if I was a ...more

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May 12, 2014 Patrik rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: teaching-and-learning

A very convincing and readable book about how to better learn and, as an extension, how to better teach. Two psychologists and (thankfully) one writer present the latest research on learning and, in so doing, refutes some of our most popular learning techniques (such as 'practice, practice, practice' and my favorite 'read and reread'). At the end of the book, the following eight concrete techniques are offered:
1. Retrieving - practice retrieving new (and old) learning (self-quizzing).
2. Spacing ...more

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Jan 09, 2015 Morgan Blackledge rated it really liked it

What's the first thing you (and everyone else) does when you're trying to learn a subject or text? Odds are good you read, highlight sections and then re-read the text. We all do that because it feels like we're learning.

If this is you, than according to researchers who split test different learning strategies and compare results, you're wasting your precious time and energy and there's a much more effective way to learn. It's more difficult, but it's way more effective and takes way less time. ...more

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Jul 28, 2014 John Martindale rated it it was amazing

Shelves: science, audiobook, pop-neuroscience, psychology, education, favorites

I am an audiobooks junkie and often soon after I finish a book, I go to the computer to write a review, but my mind feels completely void—it seems like I completely forget all I just heard, even the fascinating tidbits. All I feel left with is an impression concerning whether I liked the book or not. Since there is this mental blockage, most of the time I just don't write much of a review and consider those things I wanted to share, lost. Most of my life it has seemed the majority of what was im I am an audiobooks junkie and often soon after I finish a book, I go to the computer to write a review, but my mind feels completely void—it seems like I completely forget all I just heard, even the fascinating tidbits. All I feel left with is an impression concerning whether I liked the book or not. Since there is this mental blockage, most of the time I just don't write much of a review and consider those things I wanted to share, lost. Most of my life it has seemed the majority of what was imprinted in my mind was written with disappearing ink.

But thank heaven, I download this audiobook “Make it Stick”!! The authors taught me that my initial blankness and difficulty recalling, is actually normal and is an import part in the learning process. That is, if I am diligent to search the recesses of my mind until I recall some of the content. Indeed it's this difficult act of retrieving, that will help cement it in our brain. An example a teacher gave her students was how our mind is like a forest, and the information is lost somewhere in it. The first time we go looking for it can be frustrating and difficult. But the next time will be easier and also will begin to form a trail, making it easier to find our way to the information in the future.

One of my biggest hindrances to learning has been my foolish wish that learning might be easy—a stroll through a park. I've wanted to be able to be passive recipient, merely reading or listening, exerting no effort beyond this. But indeed, as the authors point out, merely listening or reading and re-reading material, though giving a sense of familiarity with it, will only result in the illusion of knowledge. We will feel like we know something, but there is no way to know what we actually don't know, unless we're quizzed or questioned. The authors make it clear that re-reading, listening again to a lecture and reviewing our notes, though it may help up past a test the following day, will not result in long term knowledge or mastery.
So yes, as I mentioned, if we want it to stick, we must recall, recall, recall. When we find it difficult, we must resist the temptation to just going back and glancing again at what we previously read, for this would be merely re-reading. We must first try hard to remember and only after this go back to the book/answers/notes and fill in the blanks and make sure we recalled correctly. But it's not merely searching the crannies of the mind and located something, we must reflect on it after finding it. We need to elaborate on the concepts, expressing them in our own words and thinking up examples and analogies, also we should seek to relate and connect the material with our past knowledge. All of this may seem like hard work, but the authors mentioned if learning ain't hard, it's like writing in the sand, it will all be washed away.

Even though this requires effort. It is exciting to know that one of the best ways of learning is to actual seek to recall and reflect on the material. And just think, this can be done anywhere, it's like I can be learning and encoding things I had read, throughout the day.

The authors point out, how testing, is not so much merely for making sure we learned the material, but testing is an excellent way to learn it. There was a study they mentioned in which one group spent an amount of time cramming, and another spent the same amount of time recalling and quizzing themselves, and then after an extended period of time, when tested, the crammers lost 50% while the recallers only lost 13% of the information they learned. The same amount of time was spent and recalling was obviously far more effective. This is encouraging.

They also wrote a good deal about interweaving (I think that is what they called it.) examples would be things like the batter in baseball will do better if he practices with all kinds of pitches, rather than mastering curve balls, fast balls, etc... one at a time. Though the latter will seem more productive, it will give the illusion of mastery. The authors gave the example of those learning to associate artist names with their paintings, and how it's best to skip around, instead of spending much time on anyone. I suppose learning is in school is often like A-B-C-D-E-F-G, but real life is F-A-C-D-G-B-E.

The Authors wrote on the importance of understanding the growth mentality, instead of thinking intelligence is static. If kids are told they're smart or that they're “a natural” it can have disastrous results, but if they're praised for diligence and hard work, this will often bear good fruit. People need to understand the brain is plastic and no matter the amount of intelligence we were endowed with, we can through tons of practice and work, master many, many things.

But yeah, there is more, but the review is long enough. I will mention I employed the concepts they taught me as I went through the book. I likely spent almost as much time reflecting on it (out loud) while on walks, as I did listening to the book. And yes, I think reflecting on it several hours benefited me much more than merely re-listening to the audiobook. ...more

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Jun 12, 2014 Elizabeth Theiss rated it really liked it

From the perspective of a professor with a good 20 years of experience, this book is a gem. The authors use research to demonstrate how students learn best and how teachers can structure courses to facilitate student learning. While I've read many books on teaching, few are as helpful as this one.

For example, frequent recall of recent information cements learning. Teachers can help by providing frequent low stakes quizzes that require students to utilize Bloom's taxonomy. The authors provide bas ...more

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Jan 03, 2015 Ilib4kids rated it liked it

Shelves: w_nf_all, w_nf_education

370.1523 BRO
CD 370.1523 BRO

Similar book "How We Learn: The Surprising Truth About When, Where, and Why It Happens" which focus on history instead of giving practice tips

Ideas I learn most useful:
1. Learn more by testing than re-reading; re-reading create illusion of mastery.
2. Spacing and interleaving are more useful than sequential learning and mass practices.
3. Growth mindset is extremely important not only in learning, but in everything. Setback and mistakes are only ways to success. Do not a ...more

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Feb 11, 2021 Itzel rated it it was ok · review of another edition

Shelves: nonfiction, 2021-reviews

A bit tedious, with way too many examples; I suppose that was intentional, as it seemed to emulate the techniques this work talks about. The last chapter is great and quite informative though.

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Apr 22, 2014 David rated it it was amazing

This is my new favorite book on learning. The writing is approachable rather than academic, and the content is completely research-based. If you want to learn how to be a better learner, or to help others learn how to be better learners, this is a must-read. A cognitive psychologist friend introduced me to it by gleefully saying, "I have been replaced by a book." Indeed. This is the best book on the science of learning I have ever encountered. I would give it 6 stars if I could. ...more

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May 18, 2015 Andy rated it it was amazing

This gibes with my experience as a teacher so I am inclined to believe it without having read any of the original research. The author refers to the science that backs up his points but mainly uses anecdotes. This is a readable and I think useful book about how to help people understand and retain information.

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Jan 01, 2015 Marc Lais rated it liked it

A very interesting subject that is covered thoroughly in this book. Unfortunately, I don't think the authors had enough novel ideas to fill 200 pages. This resulted initially in a lot of repeated information (sometimes almost verbatim), and later in the book losing focus and wandering all over the place. The two paragraph conclusion read like it had been written by a high schooler who suddenly realized she had met the word count requirement. Make it Stick would make an awesome TED Talk or a 3 pa ...more

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Oct 08, 2014 Nathan Moore rated it it was amazing

Recommends it for: Anyone who loves to learn, especially those who struggled in school.

Shelves: personal-development

I've read some great books on learning and skill development this year. I've been looking for a book on the subject of learning with a special emphasis on memory and long term retention and this book fit the bill. I read it after reading the Talent Code, which focuses on developing fine motor skills and I've also recently read Outliers which argues that mastery comes from long hours (about 10,000) of focused practice.

In Make it Stick, Brown and others argue that most of the study habits of Ameri ...more

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Jan 25, 2015 Kiwi Begs2Differ ✎ rated it really liked it

Shelves: nf-other, z_2015-monthly-non-fiction, nf-self-help

A really interesting book making the case for non-traditional and often counter-intuitive learning techniques such as continuous testing vs. repetition, spacing and interleaving tasks requiring different efforts rather than sequential practice (i.e. complete mastery before moving onto the next level). The book promotes the concept that easier is not better in learning (i.e. effortful recall produces long lasting results) and analyses the evidence for the scientifically unproven but heavily marke ...more

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Dec 06, 2019 Milan rated it really liked it

Shelves: non-fiction, learning, ftp

This is a great book on how we learn and how we don’t learn. The three authors provide basic principles of learning with numerous examples. There are 8 chapters in this book which elaborate on these points.

1. Retrieving - practice retrieving what you have learnt.
2. Spacing - leave space between your practice sessions.
3. Interleaving - learn different things, don't get stuck on one topic.
4. Elaboration - find new meaning in what you have learnt.
5. Generation - try to solve a problem before checki ...more

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Jul 26, 2020 Jurgen Appelo rated it it was amazing

Shelves: learning

Required reading for every student/learner and every teacher/trainer.

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Jun 02, 2014 Samantha rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

A superbly wonderful guide if you want to learn better in a more efficient manner. Mainly, it talks about how you need to slow down and digest the information, think and comprehend the material every so often, but most importantly, you need to quiz yourself in order to better remember the subject matter. Memory retrieval and interleaved learning is what will make you succeed, among other techniques.

For example, a typical student would read the required text and pen highlight the important ideas. A superbly wonderful guide if you want to learn better in a more efficient manner. Mainly, it talks about how you need to slow down and digest the information, think and comprehend the material every so often, but most importantly, you need to quiz yourself in order to better remember the subject matter. Memory retrieval and interleaved learning is what will make you succeed, among other techniques.

For example, a typical student would read the required text and pen highlight the important ideas. Then he/she will go back and reread the text until they have it “memorized” but this leads to a false sense of security that you are “expert in the material”. The material may exist in your short-term memory but it will not stay long-term. Instead what you should do is that as you read/study, you should stop every so often and think about what you read. Summarize it to yourself in your own words or visualize it in a way that will help you remember. An example the book gave is how a particular medical student needed to learn how “dopamine is released from the ventral tegmental area”. This student didn’t just passively read and highlight these words, instead he dug deeper into the material, identified where this was located in the brain, studied images of it and how it worked (thus creating a mental visual aid) and then he later quizzed himself on it. Quizzing yourself is key, not just at that moment, but you need to quiz yourself a day later, then a couple of days later, then perhaps a week later, then maybe a month later, and so on, it’s up to you to find the right memory retrieval spacing that you are comfortable with. Studies in the book have shown that when instructors/professors included weekly comprehensive low-stakes quizzes instead of just the typical midterm and final only, student retention and attendance improved drastically.

Interleaved learning is how you can practice at something, but it must be spaced out, mixed in with other concepts, and varied to produce better mastery over the long-term. However, this method will require more effort and it feels that learning is slower, but you reap the rewards later. An example that the book gave was a study involving a college baseball team over a six-week period. All players were highly-experienced but agreed to take on extra batting practice twice a week. The team was then divided into two batting groups. The first group practiced different kinds of pitches in a linear method – they first mastered hitting fast pitches and when they felt comfortable with that, they moved on to mastering how to hit curve balls, and when they mastered that, they moved on to changeup pitches. The second group, however, learned in a varied manner - the pitcher threw curveballs, fastballs, and changeups in random succession and at first, this frustrated the second group greatly but over time, they learned how to read the pitch and how to respond to it. When the two groups were assessed after the study, it was found that the second group was better at hitting the ball. How this could apply to your learning is that maybe it would be better to vary it – for example, if you’re studying for the GMATs, perhaps you should do sentence correction, math, critical reasoning, data sufficiency, and reading comprehension problems simultaneously instead of doing practice problems in one category at a time.

Reading this book has been immensely helpful and I can’t wait to try out other very important tips that the authors recommended.
...more

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May 29, 2015 Alex Linschoten rated it really liked it · review of another edition

In 'Make it Stick', the authors explain how to study, how to learn things for long-term retention, and how to tweak the school experience to encourage retention. The authors strive to make examples practical and applicable. Spaced-repetition software is never mentioned in the book -- in fact technology really isn't the focus -- but it's possible to read it as a love letter to Anki. (This would have been five stars but for it being slightly too long.)

Some key things I learnt:

- testing recall help In 'Make it Stick', the authors explain how to study, how to learn things for long-term retention, and how to tweak the school experience to encourage retention. The authors strive to make examples practical and applicable. Spaced-repetition software is never mentioned in the book -- in fact technology really isn't the focus -- but it's possible to read it as a love letter to Anki. (This would have been five stars but for it being slightly too long.)

Some key things I learnt:

- testing recall helps cement memories
- pure repetition (either rereading something or repeating a concept out loud multiple times) doesn't work, and could even harm you by giving a false sense of confidence/familiarity with the material.
- apparently some of the research also shows that a delay in the feedback (i.e. you don't get to find out how you did on the test at the exact same time as taking the test) is preferable to immediate feedback, even w/r/t types of skills (motor skills e.g.) that you'd think would reward immediate feedback.
- tests don't have to be digitally produced
- production tests (i.e. you have to supply the answer out of thin air) offer greater benefits than multiple-choice tests, but even multiple choice testing offers benefits when compared with no testing.
- the ideal situation is one in which you are 'reaching' in some way -- i.e. the test should be hard. If the test is easy, it's probably not delivering that much benefit.
- difficult tests (where you have to 'reach' further) help cement memories better than easy tests.
- interleaved testing is better than massed testing -- which is to say that instead of siloing all your biology tests together, doing them, then moving on to physics, then moving on to French (for example), you should really mix it all up so that you are switching context. It will be harder and much more frustrating, but the research suggests you'll emerge in the long-term with a much more flexible grasp of the materials.
- building scaffolding and mental maps is important for learning -- without the basic scaffolding of a subject, it's hard to hang new concepts and to expand your knowledge.

Again, not all of this was new to me, and it won't be to many readers, but this was a useful reminder. I shall be tweaking my learning regimen accordingly. ...more

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May 06, 2020 James rated it really liked it

This book was fairly easy to read, and seemed to be organized in a way that followed its teachings (i.e. it would refer back to earlier chapters frequently, mimicking spaced repetition).

It could be that I had too much prior knowledge coming into this book, but I didn't feel like I learned very many new things, and some explanations could have been shortened to make the book more concise.

Overall though, this book has some really useful information and is worth diving into as a general overview of ...more

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Aug 20, 2015 Matthew rated it it was amazing

This is an absolutely fantastic and essential book, and I would recommend it to anyone who considers themselves to be a lifelong learner or wants to become one. Like the title indicates, this is a book about the science of how we learn, what are the best strategies to learn effectively and what methods can we use to improve cognition/intelligence. In addition to that, this book provides up-to-date research on similar and related topics in cognitive psychology and neuroscience, specifically, mind ...more

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Feb 07, 2018 Cristina rated it it was amazing

Excerpts:

Retrieval practice—recalling facts or concepts or events from memory—is a more effective learning strategy than review by rereading. Flashcards are a simple example. Retrieval strengthens the memory and interrupts forgetting. A single, simple quiz after reading a text or hearing a lecture produces better learning and remembering than rereading the text or reviewing lecture notes. While the brain is not a muscle that gets stronger with exercise, the neural pathways that make up a body of ...more

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Apr 09, 2018 David rated it it was amazing

Of the books I've read about learning, this is my favorite. This review comes right on the back of reading and reviewing How We Learn by Benedict Carey which was published in the same year! I got a lot out of that book, but thought it had some flaws. This book covers more variety and still manages to avoid the criticisms I had with Carey's book.

I feel like I've already written extensively about many of the main concepts in previous book reviews. This book covered a ton of additional material. He ...more

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Feb 12, 2015 Taka rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: 2-nonfiction-you-must-read, 2015, popular-science

Good!

The first part is a gold mine of cognitive psychology wisdom, then it sort of tapers off toward the end (at least for me). The book covers what science has to tell us about learning in general and it is good. And it is owing to this book that I'm resuming my old practice of writing book reviews (retrieval & elaboration) to better retain what I read.

Some concepts that will prove particularly useful in my own learning and teaching include:

1) Desirable difficulty: how the right amount of diff Good!

The first part is a gold mine of cognitive psychology wisdom, then it sort of tapers off toward the end (at least for me). The book covers what science has to tell us about learning in general and it is good. And it is owing to this book that I'm resuming my old practice of writing book reviews (retrieval & elaboration) to better retain what I read.

Some concepts that will prove particularly useful in my own learning and teaching include:

1) Desirable difficulty: how the right amount of difficulty and thus exertion of effort etches whatever you're trying to learn deeper into your long-term memory (e.g. trying really, really hard to remember a word, say). A massively applicable example is having students try to solve a question before teaching them how to solve it.

2) Interleaving/variable practice (contra "massed practice"): how, even when learning the basics, it is desirable to mix things up and go to another topic/skillset BEFORE you get a hang of it, and then come back. The reason is that it is more difficult: you have to try hard to remember the topic/skill, driving it deep into your long-term memory. Massed practice—i.e. cramming or practicing the same swing over and over again—*does* improve your skill, but the effect is short-lasting.

3) Retrieval practice and the stunning effectiveness of frequent quizzing (at the beginning and end of a lesson, for example) to forestall forgetting. Application: frequently quizzing yourself when you're reading something you need to understand/memorize.

4) Spacing out practice. This goes back to the principle of desirable difficulty: once you let some forgetting to set in, it becomes harder to retrieve/execute whatever you learned, and thus leads to better learning.

Other takeaways include the illusion of knowing (we don't know what we don't know until we quiz ourselves); the importance of trying to infer a rule underlying whatever topic you'r learning; and elaboration (trying to explain something in your own words and connect it to what you already know).

Because of this book, I've introduced frequent quizzing into my teaching, begun to interleave practice more often, and started to engage in elaboration (such as by writing this review).

I wonder if the notion of variable practice makes reading multiple books at the same time a better learning strategy than reading them serially (a method I usually prefer). I've tried it before, but I *just* didn't like it. But the book reassures us that the students didn't like interleaving practice either, so I suppose I should stick it out for a little while.

Overall, a must-read for any serious learner/educator.

...more

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Aug 24, 2019 Hiba rated it it was amazing

This is an excellent book for everyone- not just teachers and educators. This book challenges our perceptions of how to learn and how it is often counterintuitive to how we think we best learn.

I found this book frustrating at times as it jumped between ideas- however, that in itself is one way this book practices what it preaches. I found myself inspired to approach learning and teaching differently. I was often lost in my own ideas of how I can apply what I’ve learned from this book to my own ...more

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Apr 11, 2020 Greta rated it it was amazing

Shelves: non-fiction

The most essential book for all students to read in order to improve their studying!

This book is based on cognitive psychology. Study techniques and their effects on our cognition are described in detail while several studies proof the increased performance of students. I particularly like how the author considered the experience of students when applying those concept as well, helping to understand that studying is widely misunderstood and our own intuition most often misleading.

This research e The most essential book for all students to read in order to improve their studying!

This book is based on cognitive psychology. Study techniques and their effects on our cognition are described in detail while several studies proof the increased performance of students. I particularly like how the author considered the experience of students when applying those concept as well, helping to understand that studying is widely misunderstood and our own intuition most often misleading.

This research explains the 3 key study strategies of effective learning:

1. Retrieving
We learn best if we don‘t just passively consume information, but retrieve memories from our brain in order to strengthen neurological connections, so that we are able to make connections to prior knowledge and build the foundation for later remeberance. To put it in simple words: We have to quizz ourselves on the material we studied. A single, simple test after reading a text or hearing a lecture facilitates better transfer of knowledge to new contexts and problems. It improves ones ability to retain and retrieve material that is related but not tested. Rereading the text or reviewing lecture notes, which are the most used techniques by students, prove to be highly ineffective. Furthermore simply rereading notes is responsible for bad metacognition, because we didn’t just fail to actually learn the information, but we are also under the wrong impression that we did, which is why students fail to put enough effort and attention to those subjects they didn‘t understand yet.

2. Spaced repetion
The retrieval has to be repeated again and again in spaced out sessions so that the recall requires cognitive effort rather than becoming mindless recitation. This concept also known as spaced repetition is needed, to break the forgetting curve and initiate the transformation from short- to longterm memory. Rather than becoming a mindless recitation, the retrieval requires some cognitive effort, which makes it a slow but lasting process. New learning is labile: its meaning is not fully formed and therefore is easily altered. In consolidation, the brain reorganizes and stabilizes the memory traces.

3. Interleaving.
In order to build conceptual understanding and gain the ability of abstraction we have to practice a variety of problems interleaved. Rather than studying in blocks, only being confronted with one problem and subject at a time, we highly benefit from study sessions that alter between different topics and strategies. People who learn to extract the key ideas from new material and organize them into a mental model and connect that model to prior knowledge show an advantage in learning complex mastery. Mastery requires both the possession of ready knowledge and the conceptual understanding of how to use it. Learning gained through the less challenging, massed form of practice is encoded in a simpler or comparatively impoverished representation than the learning gained from the varied and more challenging practice which demands more brain power and encodes the learning in a more flexible representation that can be applied more broadly.

This book offers concrete advice and guidelines for student and teachers in particular on productive learning.
...more

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Jul 13, 2015 Mark Bao rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Worth reading for everyone who wants to learn better and understand the key ideas that educational psych has found about learning. When I started reading this book back in July last year, the key concepts behind it (detailed in the first half of the book) had a huge impact on how I approached learning. The key idea behind it is that learning, conceptually and neurologically, should be effortful. When you experience difficulty recalling some piece of knowledge, that difficulty is a signal that me Worth reading for everyone who wants to learn better and understand the key ideas that educational psych has found about learning. When I started reading this book back in July last year, the key concepts behind it (detailed in the first half of the book) had a huge impact on how I approached learning. The key idea behind it is that learning, conceptually and neurologically, should be effortful. When you experience difficulty recalling some piece of knowledge, that difficulty is a signal that memory is being reconstructed and reconsolidated to make that piece of knowledge stronger and more connected. Counter-intuitively, we have to seek effort when learning, which is (by definition) hard to do, but ultimately rewarding, and we have to avoid illusions of knowing, which come from re-reading and such. (Short summary of how to do this the end of the review.)

Excellent stuff, all backed by apparently strong research in educational psych. The middle of the book fell mostly flat, talking about a hodgepodge of topics and anecdotes on mental models and growth mindset and learning styles and deliberate learning that didn't go very deep, and was generally just OK. It ends with a summary of prescriptions for students, teachers, and trainers, which is pretty useful as a summary, and has a few stories of interesting folks who have applied these ideas.

All in all, a solid book about learning that isn't perfect, but a very good lead-in to other books that might go deeper, and the effortful learning model is very useful. Pretty great resources for teachers, as well, for how to incorporate these ideas in the classroom. I use many of these ideas in my learning strategy at college, and it's been fruitful.

—

Key things I learned: The core idea for eliciting effort is the testing effect: that testing and quizzing are useful because they elicit retrieval, which strengthens the neural pathways for some bit of knowledge. Combine this with spaced practice, interleaved with other subjects, and attempting to answer questions before you find the answer, and you get a pretty solid foundation for learning.

Frequent testing not only leads to individuals remembering things better, but also leads them to have a good sense of what they do know and don't know and a read on their progress, which is just as important. The effects of this are further increased with a spaced repetition strategy, because when you space concepts and interleave them with other concepts, you become better at discriminating what sort of problem-solving techniques you can use for different kinds of problems.

We also have to engage in the process of generation, in which we generate answers for questions without getting the actual answers first, since this lays the groundwork for better understanding of that piece of knowledge. Just getting the answer, or re-reading a textbook, gives the illusion of knowing, the knew-it-all-along effect, knowledge that fails to manifest during testing. ...more

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Mar 26, 2019 Dan Graser rated it it was amazing

Having recently read James Lang's book, "Small Teaching," I noticed that a lot of its most salient concepts and interesting ideas were being cited back to this wonderful book from Brown, Roediger, and McDaniel. As such I was curious if it seemed as significant and intellectually rigorous as Lang's citations made it seem. I must say that it certainly is and is among the most potent books on learning I have ever read.

Perhaps the most singular feature of this work is the seamless way the authors t ...more

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Aug 14, 2014 Joshua rated it it was amazing

Shelves: education

Fabulous book. The research that has gone into bringing out the principles and truths found in this book is commendable and gives much weight to their arguments. What they propose flies in the face of much of what goes around in public education today (student-centered learning). What they say helps make knowledge stick isn't a special recipe we haven't seen before. It's just unfortunate that we desperately need to hear it since the borage of unsupported messages from others has led many to drif ...more

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Feb 25, 2020 Emil O. W. Kirkegaard rated it liked it

Shelves: psych, education

It has some enjoyable parts, but it also has a lot of rubbish.

Somehow it got learning styles right (it's bullshit), but then follow up with a glorification of Robert Sternberg's triarchic intelligence model (fringe theory with no notable empirical support). And then mention a learning style of its own (“rule learner” or “example learner,”). Weird!

Also goes full into Ericsson style 10k hours of dedicated practice, repeating typical anti-genetics claims. No mention of g factor of course.

Read the r ...more

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May 31, 2017 Shahin rated it it was amazing

Being a student back in my days, we had no idea about how the learning works! Teachers were just dividing us into brilliant or stupid groups and no extra effort to help paediatrics with learning difficulties. Lots of concepts introduced by this book were new to me, but presenting anecdotes on successful applications were so intriguing and useful. Successful learning is a critical concept these days. It's not just for pupils, but companies or marketing people can benefit these ideas the same. Thi ...more

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Jan 20, 2019 Oliver rated it liked it

Shelves: 2018, nonfiction

This could be a decent book in theory, but I have read a lot of material from other books on memory and brain (for example, "Learning how to learn" by Barbara Oakley and "Peak" by Anders Ericsson, "Brain rules" by John Medina.

However, I managed to find a couple of good nuggets of wisdom in this book:

1) More information on the memory palace technique
2) The fact that the more a person 'knows' the more neuron connections it has (aka 'hooks for new information'). So, it is quite literally the more y ...more

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“I'm in a weird place because the book is about to come out. So I'm basically just walking around like a raw nerve and I'm not sure that I...

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“Trying to solve a problem before being taught the solution leads to better learning, even when errors are made in the attempt.” — 20 likes

“Practice that’s spaced out, interleaved with other learning, and varied produces better mastery, longer retention, and more versatility. But these benefits come at a price: when practice is spaced, interleaved, and varied, it requires more effort. You feel the increased effort, but not the benefits the effort produces. Learning feels slower from this kind of practice, and you don’t get the rapid improvements and affirmations you’re accustomed to seeing from massed practice.” — 17 likes

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